The city council has now confirmed that the competition has been shelved due to cost. The job will now be put out to tender via the European Journal.

Birmingham’s design strategy has come under renewed fire after the city council admitted it would not hold an international competition for its new £190 million library.

One councilor has been quoted as saying the idea was shelved because it would have taken a year and cost up to £1 million, though a cursory glance at competition guidelines from the Royal Institute of British Architects suggests that six months and £200,000 were be closer to the mark.

Council director of planning and regeneration, Clive Dutton has said international competitions were “beauty parades” and that a tender process was equally capable of attracting “world-class” architects.